How to download songs from internet

[esquire.]

i wanted to listen to some songs, but didn't want to buy the whole cd just for 1 song. how would i download stuff off the internet, and then save it to my computer.

for example, i wanted to listen to wilco's 'heavy drummer' but i couldn't find it to even hear it once. its strange, but with some bands, you go to their site and they a song you can play with mp3. is it just unknown bands that do this?

 

[jharrison]

Esquire, Where've you been? Haven't you heard of iTunes? With it you can preview and download music on song-by-song basis--you don't have to buy the whole album (99 cents a song). However, their previews are only 30 seconds long.

And by the way, the have Heavy Metal Drummer. If you looking for a cheaper (read illegal) way of downloading music off the Internet, just find some peer-to-peer (p2p) software (iMesh and KaZaa are popular). But make sure you have excellent anti-virus and anti-spyware/adware software as well as a good firewall. Otherwise, your computer will be overrun with malicious software. Or you could buy a Mac (they're virtually virus free). I've used both methods of obtaining music and geratly prefer iTunes. On occasion, I use p2p software to download music of an artist that I disagree with politically. Sort of voting with my wallet. You can download iTunes here.

 

[esquire.]

I admit I have totally been not up to date with all this stuff. But, I always thought iTunes were only for macs and my personal computer isn't a mac.

 

[F4iryder14]

I admit I have totally been not up to date with all this stuff. But, I always thought iTunes were only for macs and my personal computer isn't a mac.

No, they actually came out with an iTunes for Windows/PC's. Â It launched last fall if I am correct, and you can get it free at itunes.com. Â And if iTunes is like Napster, and I am not sure that it is, the only problem is that the songs that you get are in .wma format, which I don't think is as good as mp3 (I could be wrong). Â And you also have to have a certain program (that you can get free from microsoft.com) to play the .wma songs because they have some protection on them, and I think if you download the software to play the protected stuff that it could hinder your ability to play songs you got... uh... elsewhere... Â

... I'm not positive on this, so you might want to do a little research. Â That's just what my roommate told me, and he's a computer whiz. Â Â Kevin

 

[jharrison]

Yes, iTunes is available for Windows. It's wonderful because it will let you incorporate music from p2p networks, CDs, and from the online music store into one jukebox. It's not like iTunes checks to see if songs are legal and then tells on you to the RIAA.

As far as file formats go, iTunes publishes music in AAC format, not mp3 or wma. AAC is actually higher quality, but it has a drawback: AAC music downloaded from iTunes will only play on an iPod. You can still share your music with other computers or burn it to a CD, but when it comes to portable music players, iPod's the only option.

 

[matadorpoeta]

anyone seen the short film "ipod's dirty secret" by the neistat brothers?

apparently the internal battery on an ipod only lasts 18 months. after that you need to buy a new ipod or send $255 to apple for a new battery. apple suggests you buy a new ipod.

you can see the film at ifilm.com in the 'viral' section. it's about 2 mins long.

 

[Renault78law]

if you're looking to pay for music, i've heard that walmart.com is a cheaper alternative to itunes.

 

[jharrison]

I've heard you get what you pay for.

 

[gqelements]

anyone seen the short film "ipod's dirty secret" by the neistat brothers?

apparently the internal battery on an ipod only lasts 18 months. after that you need to buy a new ipod or send $255 to apple for a new battery. apple suggests you buy a new ipod.

you can see the film at ifilm.com in the 'viral' section. it's about 2 mins long.

the battery is indeed a flaky one - this was adressed by Apple and is no loger a problem
and correct price for a battery replacement was about $90

PS if you are going to use kazaa, make sure you ket the Kazza Lite version - it is free of spyware. [K++]

 

[imageWIS]

Apple just cam out with the 4G ipod on Monday and apparently not only is the battery loner lasting (8 hours vs. 12 hours), but also it will last longer...partially due to better software power management.

Jon.

 

[imageWIS]

anyone seen the short film "ipod's dirty secret" by the neistat brothers?

apparently the internal battery on an ipod only lasts 18 months. after that you need to buy a new ipod or send $255 to apple for a new battery. apple suggests you buy a new ipod.

you can see the film at ifilm.com in the 'viral' section. it's about 2 mins long.

Just saw the film, funny.

Jon.

 

[jharrison]

PS if you are going to use kazaa, make sure you ket the Kazza Lite version - it is free of spyware. [K++]

ggelements,

I googled kazaa lite and found a couple of sites. One purports to offer the 'spyware-free' version. Does this mean that the latest version from kazaalite.com comes with spyware. I'm very interested in finding the least harmful version, if anyone knows.

 

[Brian SD]

soulseek, my friend. www.slsknet.org It is a genius program, and is encoded in a way that you cannot be tracked by your ISP through it. It is an EXCELLENT source for underground / less-known music, you'd be so surprised what you can find, and on full albums to boot. I've been using Sousleek for two years, and I will never touch Kazaa... Soulseek is perfection. BTW, Jon, about the new iPods... they are really cool but the buttons are pressed instead of touched (the wheel is still touch-sensitive though). It looks much nicer, but some people prefer the buttons that you dont actually click down. I love the new one though, so I'm not one of them.

 

[LabelKing]

soulseek, my friend. www.slsknet.org It is a genius program, and is encoded in a way that you cannot be tracked by your ISP through it. It is an EXCELLENT source for underground / less-known music, you'd be so surprised what you can find, and on full albums to boot. I've been using Sousleek for two years, and I will never touch Kazaa... Soulseek is perfection. BTW, Jon, about the new iPods... they are really cool but the buttons are pressed instead of touched (the wheel is still touch-sensitive though). It looks much nicer, but some people prefer the buttons that you dont actually click down. I love the new one though, so I'm not one of them.

I found Richard-X's "Walk on By" with Deborah Evans on soulseek. Among others.

 

[jharrison]

Brian, Thanks so much for the recommendation of Soulseek. I'm definitely going to check it out when I get home this evening. I also forgot to post that I did find a decent peer-to-peer program through CNet's download site called Ares Galaxy. Link It comes free of spyware and you can find almost anything under the sun. I'll let you know what I think of Soulseek when I get a chance to check it out.